SCHROEDER'S HAPPY TO BE BACK IN L.A.

Jay Schroeder, who had asked to be traded after his demotion to third-string quarterback of the Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins, said he was happy to be back in his home town playing for the Los Angeles Raiders.

In the trade announced shortly after 1 a.m. EDT Monday, the Raiders gave up star tackle Jim Lachey, a 1987 Pro Bowl pick, and draft choices contingent on the Raiders' finish this season in exchange for the quality quarterback they had sought for several years."It's great to be back," Schroeder, a 1986 Pro Bowl selection who lost his job to Doug Williams last season, said at a news conference at Raiders headquarters in Los Angeles. "I'm looking forward to contributing to the greatness of the Raiders. ... They use a lot of the same basics that the Redskins use.

"It's exciting," he said. "I grew up here, went to high school here, college here. The bottom line is winning. Everybody wants to win. ...

"I like to think of myself as someone who knows how to play the game. My style seems to fit in with the style they play here."

The relationship between Schroeder, who played at UCLA and grew up in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and Coach Joe Gibbs went into a tailspin over the quarterback's unwillingness to sit behind Williams. Schroeder asked Gibbs several times for a trade just weeks after Williams was named Most Valuable Player in the Redskins' 42-10 Super Bowl triumph over Denver last January.